30 Melbourne University Law Review [Vol 41(2):Adv information that was only revealed as the result of a Guardian Australia freedom of information request.152 The final avenue for denationalisation introduced via the Allegiance to Australia Act creates a ministerial discretion to revoke citizenship where a dual citizen is convicted of a prescribed offence.153 In order to exercise this power, the Minister must be satisfied that citizenship revocation would be in the public interest and that the conviction demonstrates a repudiation of allegiance to Australia.154 The prescribed offences relate to terrorism, treason, treachery, sabotage, espionage, and foreign incursions and recruitment.155 The possibility of citizenship revocation on the basis of conviction only arises for citizens who have been sentenced to at least six years’ imprisonment.156 The Minister is empowered to revoke a person’s citizenship on the basis of a conviction recorded prior to the commencement of the legislation.157 However, this retrospective aspect of the law is subject to additional safeguards: it only applies in regard to convictions that have occurred no more than 10 years before the legislation’s entry into force, and a higher sentencing threshold of 10 years applies.158 The offences that trigger a ministerial discretion to revoke citizenship upon conviction include the forms of conduct, such as acts of terrorism, that also give rise to automatic citizenship loss on the first ground.159 In this sense, there is an overlap between the ‘conduct-based’ and ‘offence-based’ grounds for citizenship loss. The legislation deals with this by altering the fault element for ‘conduct-based’ citizenship loss160 and specifying that it only applies in limited circumstances: where a person has committed the relevant conduct outside Australia or where they have left Australia before they can be brought to trial.161 In all other cases, only the offence-based grounds for citizenship loss apply. 152 Farrell (n 148). 153 Australian Citizenship Act 2007 (Cth) s 35A. 154 Ibid s 35A(1)(d)–(e). 155 Ibid s 35A(1)(a). 156 Ibid s 35A(1)(b). 157 Australian Citizenship Amendment (Allegiance to Australia) Act 2015 (Cth) sch 1 s 8(4) (‘Allegiance to Australia Act’). 158 Ibid sch 1 s 8(4)(b). 159 Australian Citizenship Act 2007 (Cth) s 35A(1)(a). 160 See ibid ss 33AA(3), (6). 161 Ibid s 33AA(7). Advance Copy